It’s usually a good idea to take your time over the design and creation of a piece of fine furniture.

After all, nothing is worse than cutting a few corners to save time, and ending up with something that looks substandard.

But sometimes, just occasionally, speed can be good, particularly when Vanessa Johnston from Seattle was given the challenge of designing and making two bedside tables in a week.

It was a gauntlet that Vanessa picked up, and she’s created two beautiful tables with elm tops and ash legs.

The tactile elm tabletops were off-cuts from a cabinet she’s making and, she thought, were too beautiful to throw out.

The result are a pair of speedy tables, with the tops held together by tongue and groove and secured by elm dowels that Vanessa fashioned on a lathe.

Vanessa is making all her pieces, including a newly-completed mantle clock, from wych elm and olive ash, two timber species that aren’t native to the USA.

Vanessa is setting up her own company after graduation and staying on in incubation space at the school.

It’s usually a good idea to take your time over the design and creation of a piece of fine furniture.

After all, nothing is worse than cutting a few corners to save time, and ending up with something that looks substandard.

But sometimes, just occasionally, speed can be good, particularly when Vanessa Johnston from Seattle was given the challenge of designing and making two bedside tables in a week.

It was a gauntlet that Vanessa picked up, and she’s created two beautiful tables with elm tops and ash legs.

The tactile elm tabletops were off-cuts from a cabinet she’s making and, she thought, were too beautiful to throw out.

The result are a pair of speedy tables, with the tops held together by tongue and groove and secured by elm dowels that Vanessa fashioned on a lathe.

Vanessa is making all her pieces, including a newly-completed mantle clock, from wych elm and olive ash, two timber species that aren’t native to the USA.

Vanessa is setting up her own company after graduation and staying on in incubation space at the school.